Collided Worlds

Chapter 9

We've been driving for a while, maybe eleven hours, but we arrived. It was cold back in Sacury. Well, it was January, too. There was three feet of snow, bright sky, and everything was white.

We were almost home, when I noticed we passed Drake’s house. It looked the same, and I saw Maddie’s house, too. That bitch.

“Why’d you ever leave him, Calia?” Mrs. Maroja asked me. “He was a perfectly good guy.”

“Who, Cylak?” I asked, but quickly spoke again. “He was good. He was perfect, and-”

“No, no.” Mr. Maroja cut me off. “Drake.”

“Oh…” I trailed. I didn’t want to relive that memory. “Well, about a year and a half ago, he cheated on me. That’s a pretty good reason.”

The Marojas exchanged a look among themselves. “Fair enough.” Mrs. Maroja murmured.

We passed Ridgeland High School, and it must’ve been passing period, because I saw students walking around, hustling, running into each other, heading off in different directions.

“Nicole, Austin…” I whispered to myself. I almost forgot about them.

“Yes, I remember them.” Mrs. Maroja said. “Best friends, weren’t they?”

“We all were.” I replied. “My best friends.”

“Right, right…” Mrs. Maroja replied. “Well, I guess you can finish up your school year if you want… you don’t have to, though.” She added quickly.

“Yes!” I exclaimed. “I want to go to school!” Wow… never thought I’d hear myself say that.

“Alright, alright…” Mr. Maroja said, defeated. “You can start next week, okay?”

“Okay!” I said and, for the first time since getting back with them, I smiled. “Today’s… Tuesday, right?”

“Thursday.” Mrs. Maroja corrected me.

“Okay.” I said as we pulled into our driveway. I unbuckled my seatbelt and was at the front door fast. They opened it, and I headed upstairs to my room. I found it the exact same way I left it.

I dug through my pocket for my phone and pulled it out, flipping through the contacts until I found Nicole. I didn’t want to call her at the moment, I was just making sure it was still there. I’ll call during lunch. I scrolled back up to find Austin, and his was still there. Good. I looked at the time, and it was eleven thirty-four. They have lunch at noon. 

It was tedious the next twenty-six minutes, but I survived. I called at twelve oh-five, just in case they let them out late.

The phone was ringing, ringing, ringing, ringing… “Hello?” Nicole asked, and I felt happy to hear her voice.

“Nicole?” I asked, and it went quiet.

“Calia!?” She screamed into the phone, making me put it far from my ear. “Calia, you’re alive!”

“I’m always alive!” I explained.

“Oh my God, Calia, I’m going to kill you.” She replied, and I thought I heard her crying.

“Nicole, I’m fine.” I assured her. “Why don’t you and Austin come down here after school? Please, I would love it.”

“I’ll ditch school to come see you. Where’ve you been?” She pleaded. “Please, tell me!”

“I was in-” Think, stupid, think! “Tallahassee, with my brother.”

“Oh, you could’ve called and told me!” Nicole whined. “Why didn’t you!?”